I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a computer mouse scroll wheel module and, more specifically, to a computer mouse module comprising a mechanical revolving encoder and a holding part, which consists of a swing base and a holder supporting the swing base. With the holding part, the scroll wheel of the revolving part is able to rotate and swing laterally so that the window on the screen can be scrolled up, down, left or right, accordingly.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, it is known to construct a computer mouse to translate the motion of user's hand into signals that the computer can use. A computer mouse of such construction is typically used to move the cursor, point to a specific object on the screen, scroll up, down, left and right. A computer mouse of this kind usually has a scroll wheel or buttons for user to rotate or click by fingers. The rotation or click drives the components inside the mouse's body, and the movement of the components is to be translated into electronic signals sent to the computer.
Computer mice with the heretofore known scroll wheel or buttons have a variety of patented designs. Refer to Taiwanese patent publication No. 320302-“Third Input Axle In Computer Mice” (application No. 85208070), a scroll wheel can be rotated to provide input translated into scrolling up or down in the currently selected window on the screen. The scroll wheel can also be swayed up and down to switch between scrolling modes.
For Taiwanese patent publication No. 461548 (application No. 87208877) “Improved Structure Of A Third Input Axle In Computer Mice”, a scroll wheel has more functions than just rotating to provide input. The scroll wheel hangs on a set of pillars with a restricting horizontal shaft going through the scroll wheel. At one end of the restricting shaft is there a small wheel, which can be pressed down so that the restricting shaft bends and bounces back laterally like a fishing rod. As the scroll wheel is pressed down to bend, the small wheel at the end bends down simultaneously to reach the power switch. In other words, the scroll wheel is able to bend to trigger the device to send signals.
Refer to the “Improved Structure Of Key-Free Mouse” receiving Taiwanese patent publication No. 543872 (application No. 90204174), the “Key-Free Mouse” receiving Chinese publication No. CN2476843Y (patent No. ZL01207387.3) and the “Key-Free Mouse” “issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,164,412”, all disclose the same structure of computer mouse, in which a pin and a slot are pivoted to form a revolving axle oriented perpendicular to the mouse surface. The mouse body can therefore be swayed left or right to produce signals as the buttons do.
The heretofore known computer mouse is typically designed to have a scroll wheel or buttons to sway in either the X direction or the Y direction, instead of having buttons to be pressed. Moreover, refer to the U.S. Patent application with publication No. 2003/0025673 A1—“Input Device Including A Wheel Assembly For Scrolling An Image In Multiple Directions”, the scroll wheel of the mouse has the technique of swaying in both X direction and Y direction as described in the above mentioned prior arts. Since these prior arts have elements and module designs different from each other, they can be patented separately.